To Fight Monsters
by Kenya Starflight
Summary: Something has caused the Sea Kings to become uncontrollably violent, attacking ships and coastal towns. The Navy goes on the defensive, but the pirates decide a more active approach is needed... and the Jaeger program is born. Started life as a one-shot, but will be updated when I feel like it.
1. Ace's Story

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is what happens when I marathon my way through over 600 episodes of One Piece, fall in love with the characters, and then ponder how to cross it over with my favorite movie. Because EVERYTHING can be crossed over with Pacific Rim. No exceptions._

_These universes meshed together far better than I thought they would... Also some of the pirate ships aren't named in the anime and I couldn't find names on the One Piece Wiki, so I made names up. Enjoy... or at least laugh. _

* * *

The moment the claxon alarms went off the Shatterdome became a riot of activity, despite the hour that some of the less-couth crew members (of which there were many) would call "the ass-crack of dawn." Team members spilled out of their bunks, jerking on clothes before they had even fully awakened or pelting down the halls half-dressed. Crew members surged into the Jaeger bays, activating the titanic mecha and ensuring they were battle-ready. It was as if someone had tossed a lit match into a wasp nest – where there had once been uneasy calm there was now chaos, albeit a semi-organized sort of chaos that struggled to become more organized every moment.

How Portugas D. Ace could sleep through the bedlam was anyone's guess… but his co-pilot wasn't going to let him remain sleeping for long.

"Hey, wake up, Ace!" he shouted, hanging upside-down from his bunk and poking the other Pirate in the ribs. "Rise and shine! It's fighting time!"

Ace groaned loudly and grabbed a pillow, slapping it over his head.

"Wake up!" Luffy demanded, poking him again. "It's a Sea King! Right off the coast of Dawn Island! We're gonna go save our hometown!"

"Mrgl," was Ace's only response.

"Come on, you big dummy!" Luffy performed a little back flip off his bunk and landed on the floor. "We get to go out and punch Sea Kings! Isn't that exciting?"

"Mrrrr." Ace finally emerged from under the blankets, his black hair standing out in a wild mane around his head and his eyes still bleary with sleep. "Why can't those things attack at a reasonable hour in the afternoon?"

"Because where's the fun in knowing exactly when they'll surface?" Luffy replied, tossing his brother and co-pilot a set of clothes. "C'mon, get dressed. You know Marshal Shanks doesn't like it when we're late."

Ace caught the bundle of clothes and set about getting dressed. "Who knows if it's even gonna be OUR Jaeger sent out this time? For all we know they'll decide we're too 'close to home' to fight effectively and send someone else, like Thriller Bark or Dreadnaught Sabre."

"C'mon, you know they have to send Thousand Sunny. It's the best Jaeger in the PPDC! Besides, maybe Sabo'll be there and we can go ashore and play catch-up once we've pummeled the Sea King into submission."

"If the Marines don't chase us off after the fact," Ace reminded him, but he did wear a fond smile as he finished dressing and donned his hat. Together he and Luffy ran out of their quarters and toward the briefing room.

Other Rangers accompanied them on their run to the briefing room, as if the first Pirate team to reach it would be the ones chosen for this mission. Ace could pick out and identify many of them by sight – Zoro and Sanji of Team Going Merry, Law and Bepo of Team Sergeant Pepper, Drake and Dumas of Team Monte Cristo, Eustass and Killer of Team Glasgow Smile, Moriah and Perona of Team Thriller Bark… even his old mentor Whitebeard and old friend Marco, both of Team Moby Dick. Amazing, he thought, that so many former pirates, many of them mortal enemies, had lain aside old hatreds and rivalries, and come together in the face of a worldwide crisis.

It had been four years since the time of the Great Change, when something had altered the legendary Sea Kings that ruled the oceans of their world. No one was quite sure what had happened to cause the change – a virus, a toxin, or something supernatural in nature – but the effects had been disastrous. The formerly reclusive Sea Kings had become uncontrollably violent, attacking ships and coastal towns with reckless abandon, seeming bound and determined to eliminate anything human that tried to enter the water. Thousands had been killed, and untold damage had been wreaked on the islands of the Grand Line.

Such a crisis had not been enough to fully unite the warring factions of pirates and Marines… but it had been enough for each of them to stop fighting and set out to find a solution. The World Government and the Navy, of course, had settled on the coward's way out – building walls around every inhabited island, and forbidding civilian sea travel of any sort. Every island would simply have to learn to be self-sufficient from here on out, and if it meant towns that depended on fishing or imported goods suffered… well, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, right?

The pirates favored a more pro-active solution. The greatest captains of the world came together to declare that from this day on, pillaging and hunting for Gold Roger's treasure would come to an end, or at least a temporary halt. An alliance – the Pirate Protection and Defense Corps, or the PPDC – was forged, and the greatest minds among them set to work to find a way to end the Sea King menace once and for all. Even one of the most notorious minds among them, the sadistic scientist Caesar Clown, had joined the cause, setting aside his experiments to study the Sea Kings in greater depth and discover their weaknesses.

The solution had come from Eustass and Franky – and predictably, their solution was giant robots. Together they designed the first of the enormous mecha they called Hunters, or "Jaegers," a towering metallic giant that Franky, in a fit of nostalgia, dubbed the Going Merry. Despite his enthusiastic opinion that the mecha was just what they needed to defeat the rogue Sea Kings, most pirates had just laughed at him. Even Doflamingo had cracked up laughing, declaring the invention a waste of time.

He stopped laughing in a hurry, as did the entire PPDC, when Sanji and Zoro had piloted Going Merry against a Sea King menacing Dress Rosa, killing it before it could lay a fin on the island.

From that day forward, the pirates set themselves to constructing more Jaegers, training Pirate crews to pilot them, and studying the bodies of dead Sea Kings to determine better and more efficient ways to defeat them. Their base of operations was a huge floating fortress they dubbed the Shatterdome, which could launch up to a dozen Jaegers at a time. They had grown adept at detecting Sea Kings, sending Jaegers to intercept them before they could reach an inhabited island, and defeating them and getting out of there before the Marines showed up to arrest them. And the pirates were no longer seen as menaces to society – they were hailed as heroes, and many islands secretly sent supplies to the Shatterdome to keep it running at peak efficiency.

The fact that so many civilians now hero-worshiped pirates annoyed the Marines to no end – they weren't happy that their efforts to protect humanity from the Sea Kings were being dismissed as useless and counterproductive, nor that their mortal foes were being considered the saviors of mankind. But there was little they could do about it.

Ace stumbled into the briefing room right behind Marco, and the two shared a quick greeting and a friendly slap on the shoulder before Marshal Shanks walked in. The one-armed Shatterdome Commander waited until every team had come in before tilting his hat in greeting and speaking up.

"We've got a Category III Sea King on its way to Dawn Island," he announced. "Biggest one yet, if Caesar's estimates are correct. Armored-type, lobster-like claws, secondary attacks unknown at this time."

"Enough talk," Killer muttered from somewhere behind Ace. "The longer we stand here the closer that thing gets to Dawn Island. Let's go bash it to sushi already."

Shanks raised an eyebrow until Killer's grumbling subsided, then resumed speaking. "Given that this creature is armored, we've decided that a purely physical Jaeger isn't going to be enough. We need a Jaeger with at least one Devil Fruit user aboard, preferably two."

Zoro groaned.

"That means us!" Luffy shouted, slapping Ace on the back enthusiastically. "Thousand Sunny gets to see action!"

"Ow," Ace groaned, rubbing his shoulder. "Calm down, Sunny's not the only Jaeger with two Devil Fruit user Pirates."

Shanks smirked a little. "As a matter of fact, Thousand Sunny is the PPDC's first choice. Luffy, Ace, you two are familiar with Dawn Island, and what areas of it are most vulnerable to attack. Plus you have Devil Fruit abilities that don't cancel each other out. You're Dawn Island's best hope." He nodded at Whitebeard. "Moby Dick will accompany you as backup, just to be safe."

Luffy flashed Ace a "told-you" grin. "Thank you, sir!"

"Just get suited up, Straw Hat," Shanks told him, though a fond grin spoiled his irritated tone. "You've got an island of civilians to protect. Also, we've received word that the Marines are sending a ship to Dawn Island, possibly to intercept you, so be careful."

Ace saluted the Marshal and took off after Luffy, their sandaled feet slapping against the metal floor of the Shatterdome. Despite his earlier irritation at being woken up, excitement tingled throughout Ace's body at the prospect of another fight. Too often the Pirates spent most of their time just waiting for the next battle, and boredom made everyone edgy and irritable. Sometimes fights broke out between Pirate crews if too much time went between Sea King attacks, and though no fatalities had occurred yet, Law was getting tired of having to be pulled from the duty roster in order to play doctor. A chance at some action was a welcome relief from the monotony of Shatterdome life.

They burst into the hangar and ran down the catwalks leading to their Jaeger. The catwalks loomed hundreds of feet in the air, putting them at shoulder level to the towering mecha that protected their world – gleaming titans that stood at attention like so many soldiers, each as unique in appearance as the pirate ships they were named after. Each even bore the Jolly Roger of the ship they were named after on their chest or shoulder, testament to the pride each Pirate team had in their Jaeger. Defenders they might be, but a pirate always remained a pirate at heart.

Marco and Whitebeard veered off toward their own Jaeger, a white-and-silver armored mecha whose cockpit was shaped like a whale's head. Moby Dick was the largest Jaeger built so far, and while some Pirates criticized it as being too slow, it was enormously strong and difficult to damage, with one of the highest kill counts in the PPDC. Ace had almost been chosen to pilot Moby alongside Whitebeard, which would have been a high honor for him – fighting alongside the man he regarded as a father, aboard the Jaeger named after the ship he had called home. But he'd proven a better match with Luffy, and so the honor had gone to another.

Not that he regretted being assigned to Thousand Sunny, he thought as he and Luffy ducked into their Jaeger's cockpit. Fighting alongside his brother was almost as much of an honor as fighting alongside Whitebeard. And while Sunny wasn't as strong or armored as Moby, it made up for it by being lightning-fast and agile. Golden-armored and with the image of a lion's head adorning its chest, it bore sharp retractable blades on its arms and cannons in its torso that could riddle a Sea King with holes before it could blink. And that wasn't even counting the additional abilities its Pirates could bestow upon it…

Chopper waited for them inside Sunny's cockpit, and he helped them into the gear. Ace nodded at the reindeer in thanks before squaring his shoulders back and raising his head, psyching himself mentally for the upcoming fight.

"_Are you two ready?" _Nami's voice sounded from the Den Den Mushi installed in the cockpit.

"We're always ready!" Luffy replied with a grin. "Ready to get in my head, Ace?"

"Always," Ace smirked. "Not that there's much in your head to worry about."

"Hey!"

"_Okay you two, play nice," _Nami ordered. _"Initiating drift sequence in three… two… one!"_

* * *

No two Sea Kings were exactly alike in appearance, but this one was weird even by sea creature standards. It was as if someone had combined a lobster with a moray eel, keeping the most fearsome aspects of both creatures. It had powerful, toothy jaws framed with long, sweeping antennae, and bulbous eyes glared with a mad hunger from its hideous face. Jagged pincers jutted from its sinuous snakelike body, and plates of greenish-brown armor, slick with algae, covered its head, back, and sides. It delivered a throaty roar that made windows shake and the citizens of Dawn Island run screaming as far inland as they could, then surged forward, sending waves crashing into the beach.

It was barely a mile from land when it froze, sensing something behind it. It turned to hiss at the two towering bipedal forms that waded toward it, their fists raised like boxers.

"_Sea King sighted,"_ Whitebeard reported, Sunny's Den Den Mushi picking up his voice from the other Jaeger_. "One mile from shore, but not advancing any further."_

"_Copy, Moby Dick," _Robin reported from the LOCCENT back at the Shatterdome. _"Get as close to shore as you can and hold the miracle mile. Thousand Sunny, keep that thing from making landfall."_

"Yosh!" Luffy replied, nodding enthusiastically. "Let's carve this thing into lunch, Ace!"

"Bring the butter and bibs," Ace replied with a grin. "We're having lobster tonight."

"_Don't get cocky, you two,"_ Shanks advised. _"Just beat this thing and run before the Navy gets here."_

"Yosh," Luffy replied, a bit more subdued but still grinning. "Ready, Ace?"

"Ready." And the two Pirates broke into a run.

Thousand Sunny responded instantly, reaching the Sea King's side in three long strides. Before the creature could do more than turn to face them fully they brought a fist crashing into the side of its head. The monster roared in anger and lashed out with a pincer, trying to grab for Sunny's arm.

"Oi!" Luffy growled. "That's not for you! Steak Knives, activate!"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Who let you name our weapon systems anyhow?"

In response to Luffy's command, blades slid out of Sunny's arms with a wicked _snickt _sound. The Sea King made a second grab for the Jaeger's arm, only to scream in agony as the blade jammed into the fleshy joint of its arm. It backed away, one pincer hanging limply, the other still raised and ready, its entire body swaying from side to side like a cobra's as it looked for another opening to strike.

"I remember these things being harder to beat," Ace noted with a smirk.

He wished he could take those words back a moment later – an alarm sounded in Thousand Sunny's cockpit at that moment, and the Jaeger rocked crazily back and forth before toppling into the ocean. Ace felt a surge of panic as water closed over the cockpit, and for a moment he expected to feel the paralyzing crush of the ocean's power-numbing ability in his limbs, the fatal blow for a Devil Fruit user…

But nothing happened, and the moment of panic ebbed as he and Luffy tried to right Sunny again. The cockpit might be underwater at the moment, but neither Devil Fruit user was physically in contact with the stuff. So long as neither of them had to bail out of the cockpit, they would be safe.

"_Left leg damaged," _the Den Den Mushi reported. _"Situation: dangerous."_

"What the hell'd this thing do?" Luffy demanded. "I'll kill it for wrecking Sunny!"

"It's not wrecked, just damaged!" Ace retorted, wincing in pain as the damage to Sunny made itself known. "We're gonna have to be careful with one bum leg!"

The Sea King hissed and raised its tail – a tail tipped with a wicked barb like a scorpion's tail. Ace and Luffy transferred as much of Sunny's weight to the undamaged right leg as they could, then raised the Jaeger's hands in a "come at me" gesture. Neither of them were done yet, and it was going to take more than a single strike for a Sea King to take them down.

"_Finish it and get out of there!" _Robin advised. _"Marine Ship is approaching Dawn Island fast!"_

"Yessir!" Luffy shot Ace a smirk. "Looks like it's time to get out the big guns."

"Right." Ace raised his hands, concentrating his energy. "Fire fist activate!"

Thousand Sunny's palms faced the Sea King now, and flames began to crackle around its fingers. Another modification that made the Jaegers so deadly – the ability for a Devil Fruit user to channel his own power into the mecha's body, giving it the same abilities as its Pirates without the debilitating side effects of contact with the ocean. And while not all Devil Fruit abilities were compatible with Sea King combat – Drake, for example, still couldn't find a practical application for his Zoan ability in Monte Cristo – the right combination of Devil Fruit powers could make a Jaeger all the more powerful.

The Sea King shrieked as Sunny slammed its palms into its side, leaving a set of charred handprints in its armor. It snapped its remaining pincer, missing Sunny's cockpit by a hand's breadth, and lashed out with its tail to score a line in its armor. Ace and Luffy retaliated by blasting fire into the creature's face, blinding it.

"_Hurry, you two!" _Marco shouted. _"The Navy ship's in sight!"_

"_That's no ship!" _Whitebeard corrected balefully. _"That's…"_

An unholy screech drowned out whatever Whitebeard had to say, and Ace and Luffy screamed in pain as jaws clamped into Sunny's arm. They were yanked backward, a set of tentacles wrapping around the Jaeger's torso and squeezing. More alarms sounded, registering crush damage and warning that any further pressure could rupture the Jaeger.

"What the hell!" Luffy shouted.

"Two of them!" Ace realized. "They don't usually attack in pairs!"

"_Evidently they do now!" _Whitebeard replied. _"Marshal, Thousand Sunny's in trouble! Permission to lend a hand!"_

"_Denied!" _Shanks shouted back. _"You've got a new objective now, Moby Dick – keep the Marines off Sunny's back until it can dispatch the Sea Kings! Try to turn that ship back!"_

"_It's not a ship!"_

"_Then what the hell is it?"_

Ace peered out of the cockpit… and felt his heart nearly stop. Something was approaching out of the mist – and it was the wrong shape to be a ship, even a Navy ship. It approached with a majestic grace, a bipedal form armored in silver-gray and with a sleek, almost caped look to its chassis. On its chest it bore the Navy crest, and the shape of the viewscreen on its cockpit almost made it look as if it were scowling at them. It couldn't be… it just couldn't…

"_Depths below," _gasped Shanks. _"The Marines have a Jaeger."_

A new voice broke in over the Den Den Mushi, one both Ace and Luffy were horribly familiar with. _"This is Vice-Admiral Smoker, pilot of Absolute Justice. Stand down and submit to arrest."_

"We're a little busy here!" Ace shouted back, trying to quell his panic.

"_Moby, hold that Jaeger back!" _Shanks ordered. _"You've got to buy Sunny more time!"_

"_Sunny doesn't stand a chance against two Sea Kings!" _Marco protested.

"_He stands a better chance against two Sea Kings than against two Sea Kings and a Navy Jaeger!" _Shanks retorted. _"Gods, did I really just say 'Navy Jaeger…'"_

Ace could practically feel Whitebeard's anger and frustration vibrating in his voice as he responded. _"Copy, sir."_

Absolute Justice strode forward and raised a hand, making a grab for Moby Dick. The white Jaeger let the silver Jaeger grab its arm, then lashed out with the other fist, clobbering its opponent upside the cockpit. Justice reeled, then lashed out, and soon the two Jaegers were exchanging brutal blows that made the air ring with the impact.

Sunny, meanwhile, still struggled against the tentacled Sea King. The lobster-eel Sea King slunk forward, jaws parted slightly in a savage grin and tail raised for another strike. Ace wondered where it was going to aim for – the chest? The cockpit?

"Nowhere," Luffy snapped. "We're not gonna give it a chance to go stabbity."

"The other one's got our arms tied up!" Ace protested. "How're we supposed to dodge or block it?"

"Aren't you always telling me to use my head?" asked Luffy, and he reared back. "Gomu Gomu Headbutt!"

Monitors in Sunny's cockpit surged with Devil Fruit energy, and Sunny's head rocketed forward as its neck struts stretched to impossible lengths. The domed helm of its cockpit slammed into the lobster-eel Sea King's face, and Ace could feel as well as hear the crunch of bone and cartilage. The beast screamed in pain and backed away, blood dripping from its mangled face.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad," Ace admitted, laughing.

The lobster Sea King seemed to have had enough of the fight, however, and with a hiss it turned its attention to the shore. It surged forward, a multitude of segmented, insect-like legs on its underside churning up the surf and shore into a sandy slurry.

"No!" Ace squirmed, trying to free Sunny from the Sea King's grip, but to no avail. "It's getting away! Moby, we need help here!"

Moby's cockpit jerked toward Sunny, and that distraction was enough for Justice to grab the white Jaeger in a headlock. Moby thrashed, trying to break free, but the Navy Jaeger was stronger than it looked.

"_Captain Edward Newgate, consider yourself a prisoner of the World Navy," _a crisp female voice – Captain Tashigi – barked. _"Don't resist any further."_

"_Are you idiots?" _demanded Whitebeard. _"How can you think about arrest at a time like this? There are innocent lives at stake!"_

"_You think you pirates are actually helping during this crisis?" _countered Smoker. _"Has it occurred to you ruffians that all your efforts are just making things worse? That you're riling the Sea Kings up by killing off members of their packs, and they're taking their revenge on civilians? Your idiot Jaeger program's doing far more harm than good!"_

"This coming from a Marine who's sitting in an idiot Jaeger as we speak," Ace noted dryly. "If it's an idiot program, why are you copying it?"

"_Because something has to protect Dawn Island until we can get its wall built," _Tashigi retorted. _"Now are you going to surrender?"_

"Hell no!" Luffy shouted. "Because we've got a Sea King making landfall right now, and if we don't stop it, it's going to wreck this place! There'll be nothing for a wall to protect!"

"Let Whitebeard go and let us save the island!" Ace added. "Or else the blood of Dawn Island's civilians is on YOUR hands!"

Justice, despite being a non-sentient mecha, seemed to perk up at that. So they'd managed to touch a nerve with Smoker. That was worth knowing.

"_What's more important right now, Smoker-san?" _asked Whitebeard, as reasonably as if they were sitting down to drinks instead of locked in a life-or-death struggle. _"Sending a couple of pirates to prison, or saving hundreds of innocent lives?"_

That seemed to decide the matter, and Moby staggered as Justice released it.

"_Help Straw Hat and Fire Fist," _Smoker ordered. _"We'll go after the one on land."_

Luffy giggled. "You're not so bad, Smoker-san! For a Marine, anyway."

"_Shut up, Straw Hat," _Smoker huffed.

Moby straightened up and charged the tentacled Sea King. One fist impacted against rubbery flesh, and the creature gurgled and loosened its grip on Sunny. With a flex of its arms the gold Jaeger broke free, and it whirled with both fists raised.

"I feel like fried calamari today, Ace," Luffy noted. "What do you say?"

"You read my mind," Ace replied, grinning. "Fire Fist!"

The squid-like Sea King squealed as two sets of fists pummeled it, one cold iron, the other glowing red-hot. It flailed and lashed out with a multitude of suckered arms, stripping paint from both Jaegers and trying to catch and rip off panels of armor. Neither Jaeger let up, however, and soon the creature's movements grew weaker as the beating took its toll.

Finally the beast went limp, sinking into the water, steam rising from its scorched flesh. Luffy turned and high-fived Ace, which made for a weird moment where Thousand Sunny was essentially high-fiving itself. Moby just shook its cockpit in response before turning its attention to the shore.

Absolute Justice, meanwhile, was standing on the shore, trying to back the lobster Sea King into the water. The monster howled and screeched in frustration as it lashed out with its pincer and tail, but all its attacks passed harmlessly through Justice as if it were made of mist. Which, given Smoker's Devil Fruit ability, wasn't too far off the mark… though its fists were solid enough as it punched and jabbed, driving the creature further back.

"Shall we give him a hand?" asked Ace. "Or do you think he's got this handled?"

"Eh, I want a bit more fun before we go home," Luffy replied. "Rubber man powers!"

The lobster Sea King lunged forward for a final snap at the Navy Jaeger… only to freeze in place as Sunny's fist shot forward on a suddenly elongated arm, its arm blade piercing its head. A shudder ran the entire length of the beast's body, then it sagged to the side, collapsing half-out of the water. Justice gave it one last disdainful kick before turning to glower at Sunny.

"_We had the situation under control, Straw Hat," _Smoker grumbled.

"You're welcome," Luffy replied. "Sorry we can't stay and Jaeger-wrestle, even though I know we'd win, but we're needed back at the Shatterdome. Catch you next time?"

"_He's kind of sassy, isn't he, Admiral?" _asked Tashigi.

Smoker ignored his co-pilot. _"The next time we meet, Straw Hat, you won't get away so lightly. I wouldn't be so light-minded about our future encounters if I were you." _Absolute Justice hesitated a moment, and Ace wondered if it was going to come after them… but Smoker seemed to change his mind, and the Jaeger instead turned and began to walk along the shore, heading back in the direction it came from.

"_Huh… Smoker has a sense of honor after all," _Robin noted with a hint of amusement. _"You don't often find that in a Marine."_

"_Get back to the Shatterdome, Moby Dick and Thousand Sunny," _Shanks ordered, though his voice sounded warmer and friendlier now that the crisis had passed. _"You might have to help Sunny, Whitebeard and Marcos. It took some nasty damage there."_

"Hey, we've gotten Sunny back home with worse damages," Luffy pointed out. "We'll be just fine."

"_All the same, I have a son in there I have to look after," _Whitebeard noted, and Moby put an arm around Sunny, letting it lean against it for support. _"Let's go home."_

Ace wasn't going to argue, and the two Jaegers made for deeper waters and the journey back to the Shatterdome. Another battle over, and another scene of destruction averted. All in a day's work for the Pirates and Jaegers of the PPDC.


	2. Law's Story

Despite their status as Jaeger pilots, most Pirates of the PPDC ended up pulling double duty of some sort. Many captains had brought their crews with them when the Four Emperors had organized the Corps, but even with so many crews under one roof, the Shatterdome was still frequently understaffed. That meant everyone had to pull double- and sometimes triple-duty, and most Pirates didn't consider it beneath them to step in and perform the day-to-day tasks that kept the floating base running. Sanji worked in the kitchens when he wasn't piloting Going Merry, Eustass helped the mechanics in the Jaeger bay when he wasn't on a mission in Glasgow Smile, and Whitebeard spent most of his time outside Moby Dick training new Jaeger teams… or simply delivering discipline whenever disagreements between formerly rival crews got out of hand.

Trafalgar Law was among the Pirates with an additional set of duties on top of his task of piloting a Jaeger… and at the moment he found himself wishing he were back in Sergeant Pepper's cockpit. Facing down a thousand-ton feral Sea King was preferable to dealing with the stupidity of the average Jaeger pilot.

"You're an idiot," he snapped as he wiped blood and sticky Sea King saliva from his patient's shoulder. "We build those things with thick armor for a reason, you know. And that armor does its job best when you stay INSIDE the damn Jaeger!"

Captain X Drake, pilot of Monte Cristo, scowled at him. "Just get it out of me."

"I have half a mind to leave it in you," Law retorted. "If you're stupid enough to get a piece of a Sea King embedded in you, you're stupid enough to keep it."

Drake's frown deepened. "I had no choice in the matter."

Law rolled his eyes. While a good fighter and notoriously unflappable, never cracking under pressure even under the most dire of circumstances, Drake had a habit of taking crazy risks. He'd already been chastised twice by Marshal Shanks for putting his co-pilot and Jaeger in unnecessary danger, and as far as Law could see neither rebuke had sunk in at all. It didn't help that, for all his foolishness, his risk-taking produced results – Monte Cristo had taken down no less than seven Sea Kings over the course of its career, an impressive number.

Perhaps this incident would teach him to be a bit more cautious, Law thought as he examined Drake's wounded shoulder – and the jagged shard of ivory that jutted from his flesh. The latest Sea King to menace the Grand Line, a Category IV that had emerged from the depths not far from Sabaody, had seemed simple enough to defeat, lacking any obvious special attacks or defenses. It had only been while Monte Cristo was trying to deliver the fatal blow that it had struck back with a weapon that no one could have predicted – a burst of energy that had promptly shut all of Cristo's systems down.

Shanks had ordered Drake and Dumas to stay put until help arrived – they would be far safer inside a Jaeger, even a deactivated one, than anywhere else. But Drake had ignored the order and opened the Conn Pod, climbing out and assuming his T-Rex form. From his perch on Cristo's shoulder he had held the Sea King off, snapping and clawing, until Thousand Sunny could reach the scene and finish off the beast.

It had been a stupid, suicidal move, and it had nearly cost Drake his life when the Sea King had lunged to bite him. He'd scrambled out of the way just in time, leaving the monster to shatter its own teeth on Cristo's armor, only for a broken tooth to catch him in the shoulder and leave jagged splinters behind. But even Shanks, as irate as he had been that Drake had disobeyed a direct order and put his own life in danger, had to admit that his actions had probably kept both Monte Cristo and his co-pilot in one piece until help had arrived.

In the meantime, Law got to deal with the bloody aftermath. Lovely. At least this pilot wasn't coming back in pieces. Others hadn't been quite so lucky…

He shook his head and raised his hand in a gesture of concentration. _"ROOM."_

A vortex of power opened at the gesture, swirling outward to encompass a good portion of the medical center. Dumas, standing nearby to ensure her co-pilot was all right, shivered and stepped backward as if hoping to escape Law's area of influence. Law couldn't suppress a faint smirk at that. Despite the complicated array of truces and treaties that kept the various pirate factions – Supernovas, Shichibukai, Emperors, and every other crew – from warring amongst themselves for the time being, trust was still in short supply.

"I'm not going to disassemble your captain," he assured her. "Just pull the Sea King tooth out of his hide. And I'm certainly not going to switch your bodies or anything like that. I'm a professional."

Drake's former first mate nodded but didn't come any closer. Law smirked a little more, then raised his hand… and in response the ivory shard lifted out of the wound. Another gesture sent it clattering onto a nearby tray, still smeared in red but otherwise looking deceptively harmless.

It was Drake's turn to smirk. "Showoff."

"That chunk of Sea King was surrounded by important muscles and blood vessels," Law countered, pressing a square of gauze to Drake's shoulder to stem the bleeding. "Would you rather I relied on clumsy pliers and risked cutting something vital? If you want to keep use of your arm, stop complaining."

Drake just rolled his own eyes as Law finished cleaning the wound and set about stitching it closed. He was going to be out of action for a couple of weeks so he didn't pop his stitches, but if he didn't do anything foolish he'd come out of this ordeal with nothing worse than a new scar. Hopefully this would keep his daredevil antics under control, but Law wasn't going to bet money on that.

"All right, get out of here," he told the Pirate once he'd finished bandaging his shoulder. "I'm telling Shanks to pull you from duty until that's healed, and you'd better not argue or I'll switch your body with Chopper's the next time I see you."

"Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired, Doctor," Drake replied evenly, standing to go. "But thank you."

"Just get," Law ordered. "I've got a lot to do here."

Drake retrieved his hat and jacket from the nearby table before walking out, his co-pilot close behind. Only when the two of them had left did Law blow out a sigh of relief. He didn't like to let it show, but he worried for every patient that crossed his operating table. Even when he found himself treating one of former rivals, he was extremely careful and did his damnedest to save them. Losing a patient was never pleasant, and enough Pirates had died under his care that he did everything possible to not repeat the experience.

He finished his cleanup, then bagged the shard of tooth and headed out of the medical center. No patients for once – Drake had been the only casualty of the fight at Sabaody, and the only fights to occur lately had only resulted in minor cuts and bruises. That gave him time to pay the other resident doctor a visit, both to deliver the tooth and to hopefully grant him a bit of a reprieve from the company he kept.

The research labs were on the opposite side of the Shatterdome from the medical center, so Law took a shortcut through the Jaeger bay to get there. Most of the Jaegers were standing idle at the moment, undergoing routine maintenance or just waiting for the next incident. Thousand Sunny and Monte Cristo were both undergoing repairs from the recent battle, and their hangars practically crawled with activity as mechanics swarmed over them, patching tears in the metal and replacing shattered components. Two other hangars stood empty – Going Merry was outside undergoing tests on its recent upgrades, while Dreadnaught Sabre had been lost in a recent fight against a Sea King near Alabasta.

He couldn't suppress a grin as he paused a moment beside Sergeant Pepper, the Jaeger that he and Bepo piloted together and had been modeled after his submarine. Shorter than its neighbors by about a head, it was armored in bright yellow and bore the emblem of the Heart Pirates on its chest, as well as markings on its limbs meant to mimic his tribal-style tattoos. And while its kill count wasn't quite as high as that of other Jaegers – four so far, with six more encounters that had ended with the Sea King giving up and retreating – he was still quite proud of his crew's accomplishments.

Bepo stood on a catwalk level with Pepper's knees, banging on a large screw with a wrench. Law raised his hand and called out to his co-pilot.

"How's it going?"

The white bear glanced down, then gave a toothy grin and waved. "She's shipshape, Captain! Just making sure all her screws are tight, then I'm going to give her a good oiling!"

"Good!" he called back. "I've got an errand to run, but I'll be back to give you a hand here!"

Bepo nodded and returned to his work. Law gave a friendly wave to Penguin and Shachi before continuing on his way. The Heart Pirates were a good crew, and he was fortunate to have them. Had they elected not to accompany him when he'd announced his intentions to join the PPDC, he wasn't sure what he would have done.

The research was roughly the size of the medical center, but it was crammed with so much equipment and junk that it seemed far smaller. A noxious smell greeted him as he opened the door and stepped inside, a combined reek of chemicals, preservative fluids, and aging Sea King meat that turned his stomach. How Caesar and Chopper could stand to work here he could only speculate.

He sidestepped a finger bone as long as he was tall as he made his way to Chopper's side of the room. The young doctor and the scientist had long ago divided the room sharply between them, a bright yellow line of paint marking the boundary. Chopper's side of the room was neat and tidy, the only sign of clutter being the array of tools on the low workbench beside a cabinet stocked with bottles of medicine and herbs. In stark contrast, Caesar's side was littered with Sea King pieces, tanks containing more of the same, and contraptions and devices Law couldn't make sense out of. And to make matters worse, the scientist had claimed the side of the room closest to the door, meaning anyone wanting to talk to Chopper had to navigate Caesar's unholy maze first.

"Chopper?"

The reindeer glanced up from the table, where he was grinding a mixture of powders together in a mortar. He looked exhausted and rumpled, but brightened upon seeing Law.

"Got another sample?" he asked eagerly.

"Fished it right out of a patient for you," Law replied, holding up the bag. "It's a tooth piece."

"Oh, wonderful!" Chopper replied, reaching out with a hoof to take it. "You wouldn't happen to know which tooth, would you? Incisor, canine, molar?"

"It's a Sea King tooth, it's probably just a generic fang." He shrugged. "Ask Drake, he might know."

Chopper shook the chunk of ivory out of the bag and examined it closely. "Well, whatever tooth it came from, it's still valuable to our research. If we can just find out what's causing the Sea Kings' change in behavior, we can end this war once and for all!"

A queer laugh echoed from the other side of the room, and Law turned to see Caesar emerge from behind a slab of Sea King flesh that was starting to go green with age. At nearly ten feet tall he towered over both doctors, and his white skin and goat-like horns hinted that he either wasn't entirely human or had used himself as a guinea pig in past experiments. Shaggy black hair hung down his back, and a long, bulky white coat hung over his lanky frame.

"What are you giggling about?" Law demanded.

"You're adorable, Chopper," Caesar snickered. "Still thinking there's a medical reason for the Sea Kings going berserk."

"The Sea Kings were always shy before," Chopper retorted. "True, they could be dangerous, but they usually avoided ships unless they cut through their nesting grounds. The only way they'd be this aggressive now is if something was physically affecting them, like a disease."

"Or a toxin," Law replied. "Sometimes illnesses are caused by chemicals or industrial by-products, not by a plague." He stopped there for now. No reason to provide examples – he'd relived his own past enough in his own mind that he had no desire to relive it again through talking about it.

"You two are cute," Caesar said with a snigger. "Really, wanting to think of the Sea Kings as innocents in this whole war is so _noble _of you."

Law raised an eyebrow. "You're implying that the Sea Kings are acting out of malice. How do you know this? I didn't know you could speak fish."

Caesar just grinned. "Who's been testing bits of every Sea King we've defeated since this Shatterdome was built anyhow? I've studied the samples and tested them for every sort of toxin and chemical concoction known to man, and every test has come out clean. And Chopper, your little studies haven't found viruses or bacteria, right?"

Chopper hesitated. "No viruses… plenty of bacteria, but since we've never studied Sea Kings much before the Sea War, we don't know which bacteria are foreign to them and which naturally inhabit their bodies. And they're just too big to check for parasites or fungal infections."

Caesar gave his weird laugh again. "So it stands to reason that if they're not being poisoned or driven mad with sickness, they must be getting revenge! Perhaps the leviathans are finally fed up with us treating their waters like a battlefield or public dumping ground, hmm?"

"Didn't know you were an environmentalist either," Law snarked. "And besides, just because your tests have come up inconclusive doesn't mean there's no external force affecting them. For all we know it could be some kind of chemical or disease we haven't seen before, or some lunatic's Devil Fruit powers. There's got to be more of an explanation than just the Sea Kings up and deciding they were going to hunt us down."

"He has a point," Chopper replied. "There's still a lot of possibilities we haven't ruled out yet."

"Hmph." Caesar snorted in irritation. "Well, just sitting here babbling about it isn't getting us any closer. If I'm going to conduct more tests, I need more samples. Not just a piece of tooth either – that's not going to contain the traces chemical residue would leave behind."

"Don't look at me," Law grumbled. "Cleaning up after Sea King battles isn't my job."

"It's not even the Shatterdome's job," Chopper pointed out. "Apparently there's another organization that disposes of the bodies after a battle. I don't think it's the Navy, though."

"It's not the Navy."

Both doctors and the scientist turned to see Marshal Shanks walk into the lab, sidestepping a puddle of yellowish fluid that had leaked out of one of the tanks. Despite his rank as the head of the PPDC, Shanks still dressed casually to the point of sloppiness – white shirt with the first few buttons undone and the sleeve covering what remained of his left arm tied off, baggy pants in some garish print, cloak draped over his shoulders, and straw hat perched atop his head. But he carried himself with an air of dignity, wearing his tacky sailor clothes as if they were a uniform.

"Sir!" Law straightened up and snapped a salute.

"At ease, Pirate Law," Shanks replied. "Chopper, Caesar, any updates?"

"None at the moment, sir," Chopper replied. "Still not a lot of progress. I think we've ruled out a virus as the cause, though."

"Nothing on my front either," Caesar grumbled. "And if I'm going to have a hope of making any more progress, I need fresh Sea King pieces." He paused a moment before adding a reluctant "Sir."

Shanks frowned. "Wish you'd told me that BEFORE I sent Monte Cristo out to Sabaody. I could have assigned its crew to bring back part of the body. But we'll make do." He scanned the room briefly, his gaze moving from Caesar to Chopper before finally coming to rest on Law. With a nod he stepped toward the surgeon.

"I'm going to need you to run an errand."

"The answer's no," Law huffed. "I'm needed here."

"If there's an emergency while you're gone, Chopper is fully capable of taking care of it," Shanks replied. "I have a mission for you – it might be a little much for Chopper to handle, and I don't trust Caesar to carry it out without spreading chaos in his wake."

"I'm standing right here," Caesar snapped.

Law raised an eyebrow. "What kind of mission are we talking about?"

Shanks reached into his cloak and pulled out a card, handing it over. "Chopper's right when he says the Navy doesn't clean up after Sea King attacks – apparently they consider it beneath them. And it's not like they're willing to let us stay behind and clean up either. They contract it out to someone else, a black-market dealer who harvests the bodies and sells the parts before they have a chance to rot and stink up wherever they landed."

Chopper nodded. "Sea King parts are prized by many doctors for their healing powers – meat, blood, bones, scales, venom sacs, everything. Even the contents of their bowels are valuable as a powerful fertilizer. Though most of the healing properties they're said to have are exaggerated." He made a face.

"Enough people believe those exaggerations to keep the market going," Shanks replied. "Anyhow, I'm sending you to the headquarters of the man who supplies most of the demand for Sea King pieces. Caesar, draw up a checklist of what parts you need – and try to only ask for what's necessary. We're not rich here, and Sea King parts are expensive."

"Of course," Caesar replied, a look of smug triumph on his face. "Oh, this will be splendid! I'm going to need some lymph nodes, maybe a section of spleen, perhaps a kidney… and if you could get part of its brain, I'd be most appreciative…"

Law grimaced at the scientist before holding up the card to inspect the address. "Dressrosa?"

Shanks nodded. "You'll find our dealer there. Take another Pirate with you – he's notoriously unpredictable, and if things go south you might need help getting out of there."

Dread gnawed its way through Law's gut, but he tried to hold it at bay. "Just who is this black-market dealer? Someone we would know?"

"Not unless you dealt with the Shichibukai on a regular basis before the Sea War," Shanks replied. "He's one of the Warlords who decided he was too good to join the PPDC – one Donquixote Doflamingo."

* * *

"This place is awesome!" Luffy grinned, bolting ahead of Law to dash through a marketplace. "Zoro and Sanji are lucky, they got to come here to fight a Sea King at the beginning of the war! So much to see! Ooh, look, food vendors! Hope they've got meat!"

Law didn't even bother reining Luffy in as the pilot of Thousand Sunny took off, darting from stall to stall and loading up on anything that looked remotely edible. He wasn't the Straw Hat Pirate's babysitter, and if Luffy was stupid enough to get himself in trouble… well, he was also strong enough to get himself out of it, not to mention ridiculously lucky. Then again, what else was to be expected from the son of the Revolutionary Army?

That, and Law had enough on his mind to worry about, and didn't really have the energy to spare to worry about his erstwhile comrade. The upcoming confrontation with Doflamingo commanded his attention.

He sidestepped a clockwork robot that had tripped and landed in his path, too caught up in his thoughts to help it up. It had been years since he'd last encountered the flamboyant, sadistic captain of the Donquixote pirates – years he had spent growing stronger and carefully plotting his revenge. And he had been in the process of putting his plan into action when the first Sea King had attacked, wrecking half of Marineford before the Navy finally shot it to death… and the Sea King War had begun in earnest.

Grudgingly Law had put his machinations on hold in order to play his part and defend the islands of the Grand Line… but he never abandoned them entirely. Even now, with his duties in the medical center or in Sergeant Pepper's Conn Pod taking up much of his spare time, he was able to steal a moment here or there to continue his plotting. Sooner or later, he vowed, he would make Doflamingo pay for all he had done.

And now he was about to meet with the former noble – and his worst foe – in person… and was forbidden to so much as lay a hand on him. Apparently Doflamingo's position as a black-market czar made him valuable to the PPDC, as he was one of their main sources for equipment, materials, and Sea King samples. Doflamingo wouldn't lower himself to join forces with the Jaeger program directly, but he was perfectly fine with helping them in exchange for a tidy profit.

Unconsciously Law reached back and closed his hand around the hilt of his sword, ensuring it was still strapped to his back. The idea of meeting with the one he hated most, and not being able to deliver the justice he so richly deserved, stuck in his craw. And order from the Marshal or not, he was sorely tempted to stroll into Doflamingo's headquarters and behead him on the spot. It would be a far kinder fate than he deserved, he was sure…

"Oi, Traffy! You gonna fall asleep back there or what?"

"Don't call me that," Law snapped, and lengthened his stride to catch up to Luffy. "And don't run too far ahead. We're almost there."

"It's that apothecary shop on the corner, right?" asked Luffy, practically bounding over to walk alongside Law. "It's got that Sea King symbol on the sign that Shanks talked about, so it must be the place. Hey, I got you a sandwich, if you were hungry."

Law grimaced and waved the proffered food packet away. "Not for me. I don't like white bread."

"Really?" Luffy guffawed. "Weird! More for me, then." And he unwrapped the sandwich and ate half of it in one bite. Law just shook his head and pushed open the door to the shop.

At first glance, the interior of the shop didn't look much different from any other apothecary – shelves crammed with bottles, some with recognizable animal bits floating inside them but others full of liquids, powders, or unidentifiable chunks of matter; a rack bearing a selection of charms and amulets for the superstitious; and the same nasty stench of chemicals and organic decay that clogged the science lab at the Shatterdome, only with a faint hint of spices and herbs that seemed to counter it slightly. It took an experienced eye, such as Law's, to pick out the differences – the two burly gentlemen pretending to browse the goods but with their hands never far from their weapons being the most striking difference in his mind.

"Well, if it isn't the boy from the White City."

Law turned to face the store's proprietor, a woman about his age with long black hair and a cheerful smile on her lovely features. She wore a violet maid's outfit that was cut rather high in the skirt and low in the neckline, a set of goggles… and a gatling gun strapped to her back. Despite her delicate appearance, Law knew all too well that this woman wasn't to be underestimated.

A warm smile crossed his face anyhow. "It's been awhile, Baby."

Baby 5, one of Doflamingo's top assassins when she wasn't playing shopkeeper, tilted her head at a coquettish angle. "That's an understatement. It's been years… and I've heard tell you're a Jaeger pilot now. Far cry from the sick little boy the boss dug up in the White City."

"What's she talking about?" asked Luffy through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Something you don't need to know," Law replied, voice just sharp enough to get his point across to both Luffy and Baby. "And how can you even eat in here?"

Luffy shrugged. "I can eat anywhere. No laws against it, right?"

"So how can I help you today?" Baby asked, leaning on the counter. "Here to stock up on supplies for the Shatterdome's medical center? Kind of ironic that those who fight Sea Kings would be relying on Sea King bone powder to treat their ills…"

"I'm not here to shop," Law replied, "and unfortunately I'm not here to catch up on old times either." He pulled out the card Shanks had given him and handed it over. "I need to see the boss."

Baby's smile faded, and she took the card and tucked it down the front of her dress. "He's not going to be happy to see you again."

"That's a risk I'll have to take, then," Law replied. "Can you show me to him?"

"I'd rather not," she replied. "But I doubt I'm going to change your mind." She stood and motioned to one of the "customers," a massive hulk of a man with a perpetually running nose and a face that looked smashed in, and he turned and bolted the door to the shop shut. That done, Baby turned to a nearby shelf and twisted a jar, and in response the shelf slid aside to reveal a hidden door. She beckoned, and Law grabbed Luffy's arm and dragged him through the doorway.

The fishy, rotting smell was even stronger here, and soon Law and Luffy could see why – a trip through a long, winding hallway eventually led them to a huge chamber where workers were carving flesh and scales from a massive Sea King head, loading it onto carts to haul away. Two workers used a prybar to try to lever a huge tooth from the lower jaw, while a third prized a skin mite the size of a cat off the creature's hide and dropped it into a nearby cage. Crates, kegs, barrels, and sacks of Sea King parts were stacked along the walls, some oozing fluids, and still more workers trucked cartloads of crates and bags into other hallways that branched off from the main chamber, doubtless to further prepare the contents and ready them for sale elsewhere.

Luffy grimaced. "Eww… I'm never eating fish again."

"I take it you don't go into Caesar's lab much," Law noted with a smirk.

"You get used to it," Baby assured him. "Though that's something else, Law – Doflamingo's not happy that your PPDC stole away his best scientist."

"Caesar recognized how important ending the Sea King menace was," Law replied evenly. "He decided stopping the war took precedence over his own studies. If Doflamingo doesn't like it, he can kiss it."

"Oh, I'm not terribly worried about losing Caesar… he'll come back to me when he gets bored."

Law knew that voice – even years after last hearing it, it still raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Steeling himself, he turned around.

Doflamingo was staggeringly tall – nearly ten feet – but lanky despite that, as if his great height had robbed his frame of muscle. His blond hair was cropped short, and a pair of cats-eye sunglasses obscured his eyes. A billowing jacket of pink feathers hung from his shoulders, and a thick gold chain hung about his neck. He flashed a wide, toothy grin at the two Pirates before walking up, crossing the room in a few long strides to loom over the two of them.

Law tensed all the more and forced himself to maintain eye contact with the black-market dealer. Despite the man's comical appearance, he knew he was far stronger and more intelligent than he looked. It hadn't been luck that had won him his fortune and a place among the Warlords – it had been years of bloodshed and intrigue, backstabbing his way to the top and trampling anyone who got in his way.

_Even his own brother… _Rage flared anew in his gut. _Even Corazon…_

Luffy spoke up at that moment, and for once Law was thankful that the Straw Hat Pirate rarely thought before opening his mouth – it kept him from possibly doing something rash.

"Hey, you must be Mr. Flamingo!" he gushed, thrusting a hand out. "No wonder they call you that, with that coat and those long legs!"

Behind them came the smack of a hand on skin as Baby facepalmed. But Doflamingo's grin just widened in response, even if Law thought he looked less amused and more like a shark about to take a bite out of its prey.

"So this is Monkey D. Luffy, Straw Hat Pirate and pilot of Thousand Sunny." He laughed and took his hand, shaking it. "I was expecting something a bit more… impressive."

"Hey, just wait until you see Ace and I in the Conn Pod of our Jaeger if you want impressive," Luffy replied, missing the jab entirely. "There's not a Sea King out there that can stand up to us! Or, uh, swim up to us? I guess most of them have fins and can't stand, huh?"

"True, very true," Doflamingo replied. "And of course we have your Jaeger and others like it to thank, don't we? You keep our business running quite well…"

"We're not here to make chitchat," Law said curtly, cutting off the conversation. "We're here to purchase Sea King organs. As intact as possible."

Doflamingo's smile faded just slightly, though it didn't go away entirely. "All business, I see… not even a 'hello' for the man who helped raise you?"

Luffy's eyes widened as Law's narrowed, but neither Pirate said anything.

"I see how it is, then." Doflamingo's smile vanished, replaced with a calculating look. "Very well… but if your Marshal wants fresh Sea King parts, he's going to have to pay. I'm all about supporting your precious PPDC, seeing as it's protected Dressrosa several times, but I expect to be compensated."

"Marshal Shanks is prepared to compensate you," Law replied, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. "We need a brain, spleen, kidney, and at least one lymph node, preferably several. Oh, and a canine tooth, root intact."

Doflamingo whistled. "I like a customer who knows exactly what he wants, especially if he's placing that large an order. All right, seventy-five million berries for the lot."

"Ten," Law countered.

The dealer barked a laugh. "Come on, Law, you know the tooth alone is worth that!"

"The rest of the parts we're asking for are things you'd probably just throw away anyhow. Fifteen, then."

"Sixty, and that's practically robbery right there."

"Thirty."

"Fifty. And if you refuse THAT price then I'll have Baby show you out with a gun to your back. My sense of charity only extends so far."

Law scowled, but in the end he relented. "Fine. Fifty. Half up front and the other half on delivery."

"Deal." Doflamingo's shark-grin returned, and he extended a hand. Law gestured sharply at Luffy, who quickly slid off his pack and pulled out a few bags of coins. Few people had the strength or the audacity to carry around twenty-five million berries worth of currency, but then, Luffy wasn't most people.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Doflamingo purred. "Do stay a bit. I'm having a banquet tonight with some of the Admirals, and I can convince them to look the other way if there happen to be Pirates at the table."

"A banquet? Food!" Luffy looked to Law, wearing the expression of a child who'd just discovered his birthday had come early. "Can we?"

"We're done here," Law said sharply, grabbing Luffy's arm. "Let's go."

"Aw, you sure you have to go so soon?" asked Doflamingo. "I would have loved to play catch-up with you, Law… maybe even convinced you to come back and work for us again. The pay is good, and there's far less job hazard working for the Donquixote family than the PPDC." His grin took on a wicked tilt. "Even if you said no, the family would have loved to see you again. We might even have let you sit in Corazon's seat."

Law's control over his temper had been rapidly unraveling since he and Luffy had started their journey to Dressrosa, and that comment was the blade that finally severed the last strand. Before he could think twice, he had drawn his sword and had the tip aimed at the Warlord's throat. Immediately steel hissed and rang as swords left their scabbards, and gun hammers clicked ominously all around. Even Baby had drawn her weapon and leveled it at Law's head, though she wore a horrified expression.

"Oi!" Luffy shouted, pushing between Law and Baby. "Stop that! I thought you two were friends!"

Doflamingo just laughed and raised a hand, gesturing toward the guards and workers who had their guns trained on his would-be assassin. "Those that work for me know that their loyalty to me comes first, Straw Hat. But do hold your fire, everyone. Let Law say his piece first."

"Say my piece," Law spat through clenched teeth. "I've far more to say to you than a piece. You took away the one thing that made my life in your 'care' bearable!"

"I destroyed a traitor to my cause," Doflamingo replied coldly. "If a member of YOUR crew turned out to be subverting everything you'd worked for, you'd take action, wouldn't you?"

"You killed Corazon!" Law snarled. "Your own brother, and the one person who ever cared about me! For that I should gut you where you stand, here and now!"

Doflamingo glared down at the surgeon… then chuckled softly and spread his arms. "Go on, then. Kill me. Cut me open and feed me to the Sea Kings if that will make you feel better. And then watch as Dressrosa turns against the Pirate Protection and Defense Corps once and for all. Watch as more and more islands that once praised you as heroes reject and scorn you when word of your brutality spreads. Watch as your precious Jaeger program withers up from lack of funds when someone less charitably-minded takes over my business. If the sweetness of revenge is worth the price in your mind, then go right ahead."

Law clenched his jaw, pressing the point of his blade against the hollow of Doflamingo's throat. Then, slowly, he drew it back and sheathed it. Stupid, he chided himself. Drawing steel against the head of the Donquixote family had been patently stupid…

"I thought you'd see it my way," Doflamingo laughed. "Stand down, everyone. Drama's over."

The guards and workers returned to their stations, though not without some grumbling. Baby stowed her gatling gun away with a deep sigh of relief. Luffy, who had been gearing up for a fight during the standoff, seemed to deflate on the spot, wearing a look of extreme disappointment.

"Thought we were gonna see some action," he muttered.

"Save your fire for the Sea Kings," Doflamingo advised. "They're less dangerous than I am. I'd call off our deal for your little stunt there, Law, but I'm in a good mood right now, so we'll just add ten million to your price and call it square, all right?"

Law clenched his fingers around the hilt of his sword. "I'll kill you someday, Doflamingo. Maybe not today, maybe not soon… but I will kill you. This war will end someday, and when the Jaegers are retired for good I'll come back here and give you the justice you so richly deserve. I swear it."

Doflamingo's grin didn't fade. "Expect your delivery within the next fortnight. Pleasure doing business with you. Oh, and tell your Marshal Shanks to send someone else to do his dirty work next time. As much as I enjoyed our little reunion, the next time we meet is going to end in blood, one way or another."

Luffy grabbed Law's hand and dragged him back to the hallway leading to the shop. Baby followed close behind, practically shooing them out the door and locking it behind them.

"Yeesh," Luffy sighed as they headed back for the Dressrosa harbor. "That was intense. What was all that about anyhow? I didn't know you had a history with the Donquixote pirates."

Law scowled and tugged the brim of his hat further over his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it. It was a long time ago, and a time best forgotten. Leave it at that."

Luffy snorted. "You can talk to me, Law. We're allies now… I'd like to think that makes us friends."

"We're rival pirates, even if we're Jaeger Pirates now," Law reminded him. "Once this war is over I'm sure we wouldn't hesitate to open fire on one another just to ensure we got to Gold Roger's treasure first. Be careful who you call friend, even in this day and age."

Luffy frowned up at him. "Just because we're rivals doesn't mean we have to hate each other, though. Right?"

Law just rolled one shoulder in a shrug as the two of them reached the dock where his submarine waited for them. The Straw Hat Pirate captain was an infuriatingly uncomplicated individual, and seemed nearly incapable of holding a grudge or hating someone, even a deadly foe. Sometimes Law envied him – it must be nice living a life almost devoid of thoughts of hatred and revenge.

The hatch to the submarine opened, and Bepo peered out and waved a paw at them. Luffy hurried ahead to board, but Law paused a moment on the dock, turning to look back at the beautiful city they were leaving behind… the beautiful city that hid a deadly snake in its streets.

_I'll come back someday, Doflamingo, _he vowed quietly. _And Corazon's death WILL be avenged. But you're right… not now. Not while you're still valuable to the cause. But there'll come a day when you're no longer useful to the PPDC, and when that day comes, I'll be there._

Bepo called out his name, and he turned to board the sub. Revenge could wait… they had a world to save first.


End file.
